Dissonance
by SkyGem
Summary: When Reborn is sent to Japan to train Sawada Masako to be Vongola Decima, he is surprised to find Sawada Tsunayoshi instead, a struggling young trans man trying not to drown in a world where no one takes him seriously. And suddenly, Reborn finds he is not only a tutor, but also a parental figure to his new young student. Vignette series. No pairings. Warning for misgendering.
1. Target 1: That Guy From Italy

Summary: When Reborn is sent to Japan to train Sawada Masako to be Vongola Decima, he is surprised to find Sawada Tsunayoshi instead, a struggling young trans man trying not to drown in a world where no one takes him seriously. And suddenly, Reborn finds he is not only a tutor, but also a parental figure to his new young student. Vignette series. No pairings. Character-driven.

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

Disclaimer: I am not a transgender/transsexual individual and do not in any way claim to be an expert on this subject. I have done research in order to make this as accurate as possible given the characters and the world in which they inhabit. That said, I am human and prone to making mistakes. If you notice I have made a mistake, please do let me know and I will do my very best to fix it.

* * *

"It's Reborn...looks like you were called by the old man again," said a voice from in front of him, and Reborn didn't have to look up from cleaning his gun to know that it belonged to one of the regulars of the bar he was currently in.

"Must be tough being popular," added a new voice. "Going to Rome next? Venice?"

Reborn was silent a moment before saying a curt, "Japan."

As soon as he said this, a hush fell over the entire bar and the tension in the air skyrocketed.

"What!?" demanded one person. "So the old man finally made up his mind!"

And with this one exclamation, the ice seemed to have broken, as the rest of the bar's occupants started murmuring amongst themselves and taking out cell phones to spread the message.

Within seconds, the entire mafia would know that the Vongola had found another heir.

And that was just what Reborn had wanted; it was the reason he'd chosen this particular bar, whose clientele was made up of the most talkative and most well-connected of the mafia.

It was finally time to put to rest the rumours that the Vongola's bloody reign was coming to an end with the deaths of the Nono's sons.

Standing up, the infant smirked triumphantly as he exited the bar.

"Looks like it's going to be a long journey."

* * *

"Ciaossu!"

Silence reigned in the bedroom as both of its other occupants looked down at Reborn.

Taking advantage of the silence, the hitman took a moment to study his new charge, and he couldn't help but let out an internal sigh.

At first glance, it became immediately apparent that Iemitsu knew absolutely nothing about his child.

Reborn had often wondered if Nono had had a momentary lapse in judgement when he had made Iemitsu the External Adviser of the Vongola, but now he was sure of it.

Everything from the way the youngest Sawada held himself to the way he dressed and even his hair showed that he was obviously a male, and not just, in his father's own words "a bit of a tomboy."

Upon finishing his initial assessment of his new student, Reborn broke the silence by stating, "I arrived three hours early but as a service, I'll evaluate you now."

Seeming to snap out of her daze, Nana asked in a concerned voice, "Hey...whose kid are you?"

"Hm?" replied Reborn, a slight smile on his face. "I'm Reborn, the home tutor."

"Oh!" exclaimed Nana, her hands flying to her mouth.

Her son, on the other hand, let out a snort which soon turned into full out laughter.

"I was wondering what sort of person created that bullshit flier. It's this baby!?"

Ignoring Nana's quiet "Oh my", Reborn turned his attention to his charge.

"So you're Tsuna," he said, and the boy immediately stopped laughing in order to stare at Reborn disbelievingly, his eyes narrowing a bit.

Reborn was a little perplexed at this reaction until Nana interrupted, saying in slightly stiff voice, "I'm sorry, Reborn-kun, but I think you're mistaken. My _**daughter's**_ name is Masako."

Tsuna flinched almost imperceptibly at his mother's words, and Reborn immediately realized why the boy had been so surprised at being addressed as Tsuna.

Now, the brunette was looking at him, waiting for his reaction, and Reborn knew that his next words would have to be chosen wisely, for they would most probably dictate how well his relationship with the youngest Sawada would go.

Looking up at Nana, Reborn took a step towards her, causing her to back up a little.

"I'm sorry, Sawada-san," he said, gently herding her towards the door, "but at this moment I will have to ask you to give my new student and I some privacy. _Tsunayoshi_ and I have quite a bit to discuss."

Closing the door behind her, Reborn waited until he heard the sound of retreating footsteps before turning back to Tsuna, whose eyes were wide with disbelief.

"Stop gaping and sit down," ordered Reborn. "We have a lot to talk about."

Tsuna seemed unsure for a moment whether to follow the orders but in the end, he sat down.

"In order for me to come up with an effective lesson plan for you, I need you to answer my following questions truthfully."

Tsuna was quiet for a moment, seeming thoughtful, before asking, "I'm sorry, but who exactly are you and what are you going to be teaching me? Because there's no way you're a normal baby so..."

Reborn, though annoyed that he had been interrupted, decided to let Tsuna off the hook just this one time because he had a valid question – it was good for a future mafia Don to be wary of strangers.

"My true line of work is assassination," answered the infant, "And my real job is to make you a mafia boss."

Tsuna's eyes widened in alarm when he heard this.

"WHAT?" he demanded, his voice sounding panicky. "But why me? I don't even know anything about the mafia! There has to be someone more qualified!"

"There isn't," replied Reborn. "All three of the current boss's sons were killed and therefore you are the only remaining heir."

"But I'm completely useless!" protested Tsuna. "I don't even know how to get people to call me by the right name and you want me to take over a mafia family?"

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Reborn delivered a swift kick to the gut of his student, leaving him wheezing.

"Don't insult yourself. It is unseemly for a mafia Don and will lead to other Families taking advantage of you and will ruin our reputation."

Tsuna looked like he was about to argue, but didn't say anything; probably for fear of being hit again.

"Good," said Reborn, nodding in approval of the silence. "Now I'm assuming by your mother's reaction that you're not currently on testosterone."

Tsuna nodded mutely.

"Do you want to be?"

Tsuna's eyes widened at this, before he said a breathless, "Of course!"

Nodding, Reborn said, "Okay. Tomorrow, you will come with me to see your new doctor. He will be giving you all the information you need about hormone therapy, and if you decide you still want to go ahead with it, you will have to start meeting up with him regularly."

His brows furrowing a bit, Tsuna opened his mouth, as if he were about to ask a question, but Reborn beat him to it.

"The doctor works for the Vongola, the family you are now the heir of, so you don't have to worry about bills. In return, I will train you for your position as Vongola the Tenth up until the day of your Inheritance ceremony, on which you will have the choice to accept or refuse your new position. If you refuse, you will, at that point, have to find yourself another doctor, but will not have to pay back the Vongola. If you accept, you will become the official head of the Family and will start studying under the Ninth, who will teach you all the things only the head of the Family is privy to."

Tsuna was quiet for quite a while after this, deliberating, before he finally asked, "What will happen to you after the Inheritance ceremony?"

"I am currently Vongola Nono's most trusted assassin and a close advisor to him. If you accept your position, it is up to you whether I continue to be so or not."

Nodding thoughtfully, Tsuna let out a sigh of resignation, saying, "Fine. I'll go along with this. Bunt ONLY until the Inheritance ceremony."

Reborn nodded his approval.

"When is the ceremony, anyways?"

"On your eighteenth birthday."

"HIIEEEE! BUT THAT'S FOUR YEARS AWAY!"

* * *

SkyGem: Well, that's our little intro. I hope you enjoyed it! This fic will be largely from Tsuna's and Reborn's points of view with some other characters thrown in occasionally. It will focus mostly on Reborn helping further Tsuna's transition and also on Tsuna's relationships with others, most particularly his guardians, Reborn, and his doctor (whom I'm sure you've all already guessed the identity of). If there are any issues any of you would like me to address, by all means, let me know! And if there are any lgbtq+ individuals in my audience, I would love to hear about your experiences, if you feel comfortable sharing them. Just shoot me a message, eh?


	2. Target 2: Dinner is Served

SkyGem: Hello all! Okay so I really dislike long authors notes at the beginning of chapters, but I'll have to make one this time. First of all, to all those who are confused, "trans man" refers to a female-to-male transsexual, one who was born female/assigned female at birth, but sees themselves as male, and that is what Tsuna is.

And to those who think that the first chapter was rushed, you are absolutely right, and the only thing I have to say to that is that I'm sorry. I was originally planning on making this a one-shot, and I didn't want that scene to drag on too long, which is why I took some liberties. But I eventually realized that I had way too many ideas for this verse and decided to just expand it into a vignette series. I'll eventually go back and edit the first chapter to make it a bit more realistic. Sorry for that!

Anyways, this is getting a bit too long so I'll start the chapter now, but I do have replies to the anonymous reviewers **Kinda Disappoint** and **A happy guy** at the end of the chapter!

* * *

After Tsuna had resigned himself to the fact that he would be stuck with Reborn for the next four years (if he even survived that long), the student and his tutor had a rather long discussion which mostly consisted of Reborn asking increasingly invasive questions and Tsuna trying his very best not to give in to the temptation to scream.

Finally, after an hour of this, Tsuna was saved by his mother's call to dinner.

Looking at the hitman hopefully, Tsuna jumped for joy when the infant gave a short nod of the head and said, "We'll leave it at this for now. After dinner we will think of something to do with about your grades."

Despite the shiver of fear that crawled up his spine at those words, Tsuna nodded and ran out of the room, thankful that he was finally free of the never ending questions.

Dinner at the Sawada household was usually a quiet affair, both mother and son having found out years ago that normal dinner time conversation never really ended well with them, with Nana stubbornly referring to her son by his birth name and Tsuna correcting her whenever he could and trying not to lose his temper with one of the perhaps two people in the entire world that he truly cared for.

On this day, dinner was even quieter than usual, a palpable tension hanging in the air between Nana and Reborn, with poor Tsuna caught in the middle.

What little conversation there was was stilted and as soon as they had all finished eating, Nana said, "Masako-chan, can you please clear the table?"

"Hai, okaa-san," replied Tsuna quietly, getting up to follow her orders.

Nana then turned to Reborn, who was still sitting at the table.

"Reborn-san, I've been re-considering your offer for the past few hours, and I'm sorry to inform you but I don't think this arrangement will work out."

When he heard this, Tsuna stopped mid-step, his eyes going wide at his mother's words. He hadn't realized just how strongly his mother felt on the subject of his gender.

Reborn, however, wasn't the type to give up so easily, saying, "I'm very sorry you feel that way, Nana-san, but the contract has already been signed. I will be Tsunayoshi's tutor for the next four years, and there is nothing you or I can do about it."

Her brows furrowing in confusion, Nana replied, "I don't remember signing any contracts."

"You didn't," replied Reborn, his gaze steady. "Your husband did."

Nana's eyes widened in shock when she heard this, but before she could say anything, the two of them were interrupted by a loud crash from the direction of the kitchen.

Tsuna had dropped the plates he'd been holding, and his eyes were wide and confused.

"Dad's alive?" he asked, looking between his mom, who was wearing a guilty expression, and Reborn, who had narrowed his eyes.

"Of course," replied the hitman, whose impression of his student's parents just kept dropping. He'd never really cared what excuse Iemitsu had told his family about where he always was, but the fact that his son thought he was dead showed that it was a terrible one. "Now clean up that mess, then meet me in your room. It seems we have even more to talk about than I thought."

Tsuna looked as if he were about to argue, but one glare from Reborn convinced him to do as he was told.

"How do you know my husband?" asked Nana, starting to sound suspicious.

"We work for the same man," replied Reborn shortly, and Nana's expression grew even more suspicious.

"My husband is in charge of traffic at construction sites. Why on Earth would he have the same boss as you?"

Reborn was silent for a moment, incredulous at the stupid cover story Iemitsu had come up with before replying, "The man that owns the construction sites your husband works at is a very successful businessman who has many kinds of people working under him."

Nana's expression cleared a bit, obviously believing what Reborn had said, but she became no more friendly.

"If you have any problems with me, I suggest you take them up with your husband," said Reborn, and before she had the chance to reply, he'd already gotten out of his seat and was on his way up to Tsuna's room.

On the way, he passed Tsuna, who was using a wet mop to pick up the last few shards of the plate he'd broken and who had been listening closely to the conversation Nana and Reborn had been having.

Judging by his dumbfounded expression, he had probably already worked out that his father hadn't been entirely truthful with his mother when he'd told her what he did for a living.

Hurrying to finish cleaning up, Tsuna ran some water over the mop to get the shards out before putting it away and hurrying to follow Reborn back to his bedroom.

Once the bedroom door had closed behind him, Tsuna let out a long, slightly shaky breath, and threw himself onto his bed, wrapping his blanket around him.

Reborn watched him silently for a moment, feeling almost sorry for the teen – he'd had a long day, what with finding out that he was the heir to a mafia family and that, not only was his father not dead, he was a part of the same mafia family he'd just inherited.

"Why does the world hate me, Reborn?" asked the young Decimo, his voice muffled by the blanket he had cocooned himself in.

Reborn didn't reply, and without even waiting for a response, Tsuna continued.

"Why did I have to be born in a female body? Why do my classmates have to bully me? Why can't my mom understand that I never have been and never will be the little girl she'd always wanted? Why didn't my dad love us enough to tell us the truth or to visit us more often? Why...?"

The brunet trailed off, running out of questions to ask, and Reborn let out a sigh as he took a seat on the edge of his student's bed, his legs dangling over the edge, unable to reach the floor, a reminder of the curse that hung over him.

"The world hates everyone, Dame-Tsuna. Or hadn't you figured that out already? Humans are messed up and disgusting and pick on anyone weaker than themselves. They fear and despise whatever is different from them without even making an attempt to first understand. And the only way to survive in a world like that is to get stronger. And in order to make others take you seriously, you first have to learn how to be comfortable in your own skin."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" asked Tsuna, popping his head out of his cocoon, his brows furrowed.

"By doing what I tell you," replied Reborn with a smirk.

Rolling his eyes, Tsuna let his head fall back onto his pillow and turned onto his back so that he could stare at the ceiling.

The silence stretched out between them for almost two minutes, each of them thinking on different things, before finally, Tsuna said, "Ne, Reborn?"

"Yes, Dame-Tsuna?"

"How did you know to address me as Tsuna instead of Masako?"

Tsuna had propped himself up on his elbow and was now staring at Reborn curiously.

"Your father," was the short reply, but when the younger male kept looking at his tutor curiously, he elaborated. "Before coming to Japan to teach you, I researched everything I could about you, of course. A hitman never goes into a situation uninformed. Your father was my first...source. Not that he was any good, of course. Everything he knew about you was secondhand information he learned from your mother."

"And we all know how accurate that is," replied Tsuna with an eye-roll.

"Exactly," said Reborn. "He warned me that you were going through a 'phase' and that you had even picked out a male name for yourself, in order to 'be more like daddy'."

Reborn's face twisted into a grimace as he quoted his air headed colleague, as if he detested having to say the word 'daddy'."

Tsuna also grimaced because, apparently, his father hadn't changed a bit since they'd last seen each other. He still seemed to be under the delusion that Tsuna looked up to him – as if there was anything to look up to in the first place. Tsuna barely knew anything about the man.

"Of course, even just listening to him, it was obvious he had no idea what he was talking about," continued Reborn. "Nobody would be as thorough as you were in picking a name if they didn't plan to use that name for a long time afterwards."

Tsuna ducked his head shyly as he realized that Reborn actually seemed...kind of impressed. Despite having only known the infant for a few hours, Tsuna knew that was something that didn't happen very often.

Shrugging, Tsuna said, "Well, it seemed like a pretty obvious choice. I mean, dad and grandpa Ietsuna were both named after Tokugawa Shoguns, and even I was named after Tokugawa Iemitsu's sister. It only made sense to name myself Tsunayoshi, after Tokugawa Iemitsu's son."

Reborn nodded in approval. "Names carry power, Dame-Tsuna. You did well in choosing one that actually meant something."

Feeling a blush spread across his cheeks and neck, Tsuna pulled his blanket back over his head to hide just how pleased he was about the compliment.

"Thanks."

* * *

Later that night, when both Tsuna and Nana were asleep, Reborn received a phone call.

When the call came, Reborn was not at all surprised.

He'd been expecting it since dinner.

So as Iemitsu ranted and raved at him for taking advantage of his _daughter's _silly little _phase_ by trying to coax _her_ into something that _she _would one day regret, the infant sat quietly through it all, formulating his response.

And as soon as Iemitsu was done his rant, Reborn said, in a voice colder than ice, "I am _**not**_ coaxing _Tsunayoshi_ into anything. I am merely treating _him_ like a human being. And tomorrow I am going to take _him_ to a doctor who will give _him_ all the information _he_ needs to make a responsible decision regarding _his_ body. Which is more than _some_ of us have done."

Iemitsu spluttered indignantly at this, saying, "You will absolutely _**NOT**_ be taking my daughter to that perverted doctor!"

"That "perverted doctor" is one of the best in the world and Tsuna will be seeing him for a check-up that is long overdue. My job is to turn Tsunayoshi into someone who is able to command the respect of thousands of hardened mafioso, and in order to do that, he must first learn how to feel comfortable in his own skin – something which can not be done if he is still confined to the mold you and your wife have created for him. I have not once failed a job given to me by Nono, and I do not intend on starting now, Iemitsu. So be warned that if you try and interfere again, you will certainly _not_ like the consequences."

* * *

SkyGem: Ta-da! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! As a lot of my regular readers will know, I really do not like Iemitsu at all so any day when I can put him in his place in one of my fics is a good day for me XD Anyways, please do leave a review and let me know what you thought! Now, the review replies:

**Kinda Disappoint: **I'm sorry I didn't give an OOC warning at the beginning, love, but I just kinda assumed that everyone would realize that, given this _is_ an AU, there would be OOCness. One's character develops based on the experiences they've had in their lives and, considering that this is a story about a transgender Tsuna, it should be kind of obvious that he would be different. The canon Tsuna was bullied, yes, but I doubt it was to the extent that a trans!Tsuna would have been bullied. My understanding of Reborn's character is that, in the manga, he took the tough love approach because he knew that nothing else would work on his carefree, lazy, unmotivated student. In this fic, Reborn (being the amazing tutor that he is) has realized that he will get more results from Tsuna if he gives him the respect he wants and that is why I have portrayed him differently. Got it?

**A happy guy: **I'm so glad you're enjoying my fic! Like I said in my AN at the beginning of this chapter, I know that the first chapter was pretty rushed and that was originally due to the fact that this was supposed to be a one-shot and I didn't want the scene to drag on too long. I will definitely go back and fix it a bit later and will keep your suggestions in mind! As for Tsuna being a bit more closed off, that is true, but if you think about it, it would make sense for him to be a bit more willing to accept Reborn's flaws and be more open with him because yeah, Reborn is a total jerk, but he is also the first person to actually address Tsuna by his preferred name and to use the right pronouns for him (as far as you all know), and I feel like that would be a really big deal for a kid whose own parents don't even do that for him. As the story progresses though, you will see that Tsuna is indeed more closed off with others.


End file.
